Tag archives: songwriting

1974. The Oscars. The place is packed with Old and New Hollywood cognoscenti. Groucho Marx and Tatum O’Neal are breathing the same air, though likely from separate tables. Henry Mancini (Henry Mancini!!) is in the pit conducting the Academy Awards Orchestra.  Now Burt Bacharach and the amazing Ann-Margret are at the dais – Burt in […]

It might be her breathy and vibratoless soprano that somehow suggests both urgency and a leisurely, steady pace. Maybe it’s her knack for rhymes that never feel forced, or her commitment to a more universal truth in her songwriting. Or her ability to erase any divide between passionate politics and personal songs. Whatever the reason, […]

Peter Harper’s grandparents were musicians. They owned Folk Music Center in Claremont, which sold and repaired instruments and served as something of a gathering place for many people back in the day, and served as a pseudo daycare center for Peter when he was growing up. His mother, Ellen, is also a music lover, one […]